Inbound Marketing and Content Go Hand-in-Hand

After decades of exposure to traditional outbound marketing tactics, the people have learned to fight back. Consumers now have the ability to skip television commercials, utilize streaming services that allow for ad-free radio services, screen and ignore cold calls (even reporting the caller’s ID to certain websites!), and pay to remove ads from computer and smartphone games. HubSpot’s CEO summed this idea up when he stated back in 2013 that “people are sick of being marketed to and are quite clever at blocking it out.”

Inbound Marketing is the Answer

So what’s the solution? Enter: inbound marketing. Much more than simply “sneak attacking” your customers with ads for your business, inbound marketing works to fully understand consumer needs and cater to them through the creation of powerful, informative, engaging content. Good inbound marketing offers such stellar content that customers actually gravitate towards it instead of running from it. The idea is to focus on what you can do for the consumer rather than what the consumer can do for you.

It All Begins with Content

Today’s consumers spend a lot of time online. Whether they’re conducting research for work, engaging in social media, or simply passing time on their smartphones while waiting for their Uber to show up, they’re constantly plugged in. As they scroll through their Facebook newsfeed or explore various articles across the web, they will quickly block out anything that appears to be an ad while focusing on information that’s relevant to their everyday lives: simple “life hacks”, video tutorials, clever problem-solving tips, user reviews of products and services, etc. This is the type of content that will pique consumer interest and motivate them to further investigate your brand and what you have to offer. Getting users back to your website and converting them into paying customers, therefore, is entirely dependent on the types of content that you create for your brand. Here’s what you should consider when creating excellent content:

Layout — Large blocks of text, tiny fonts, weird colors… all of these are major turn-offs to readers. In order to ensure that people are attracted to your content rather than scared off by it, it’s important to focus on creating an appealing layout. We suggest a healthy mix of images and multimedia blended with your text. Text should be easy to read, short and concise, and broken into shorter subheadings and lists.

Focused Message — Know what drives your target audience and develop content that addresses specific needs and desires. This will help you capture the most qualified leads.

Diverse Style — Remember that you’re trying to connect with consumers of different demographics, so it’s important to shake things up in terms of style. While one group might respond best to videos, another might prefer informative blogs and ebooks. Offer a variety of content to meet all needs.

Convert Casual Readers into Customers

Quality content is the key to generating buzz for your brand and drawing new readers to your website, but it won’t do you much good if you don’t have a means of capturing those leads and converting them into paying customers. Once on your website, your readers should have a clear path to follow that will direct them into your sales funnel. Special promotions and offers in exchange for customer information, brand newsletters, and lead fields should be ready to capture consumer information quickly so that they don’t simply navigate away and forget about you. Without this type of inbound marketing follow-up, your content efforts will be for naught.

Without content, no one will be directed to your website, and without lead capture, your content readers will become lost in the shuffle. Content and inbound marketing heavily rely upon one another for success in today’s competitive world. Do you have what it takes to survive?